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Fresh tears began to roll down her face as she looked at him, she leant away slightly and lifted her hand between them and snapped her fingers. Nothing, no surge of vibrant pink energy or any effect and in an instant Wally understood. "They took my powers" she said with a hiccup. "They were testing a machine that could take away people's powers…I was the first one they tested it on" she paused as she let out a small sob "they decided that my powers were expendable enough to test on".
Wally felt like he was going to explode, he wanted to put Garrison Slate's head through a wall for this but he was determined to stay calm for her. He kissed her gently and wrapped his arms tightly around her back, "I'm so sorry Jenny… I should have been here to protect you."
She looked down at her hands and then back up at him, "Without my powers I'm…useless" she stated miserably.
"Don't ever say that" he replied firmly, "we're going to go and free the other kids they have here and then I'm taking you home. We'll get through this…I promise, I love you"
She gave him the best smile she could muster, "I love you too"
Chapter 11 – End Game: Part 3
The four Titans appeared in the entrance of a large open room, machinery lined each wall with most of it all hooked up to a single machine. Robin's eyes followed the mass of cables along the walls and what they eventually connected to caused Robin's legs to go out from under him. Suspended on a large metal frame was Starfire, a multitude of needles and tubing connected to her arms and legs. She was pale, so very pale what once was a vibrant gold-orange hue was now a sickly whiteish yellow colour. Robin could only stare in horror at how his strong warrior princess had been reduced to a powerless and weak husk. She looked dead. Robin withheld a strangled cry, if he kept looking he was going to have a panic attack. He needed to look away for a minute to think of a plan, but his eyes caught the figure at the end of the room. At the opposite side of the room Garrison Slate perched on a metal seat that seemed to resemble a throne. He didn't notice the groups entrance at first but after a few moments he looked up with a look of shock on his face however that quickly passed.
"I suppose I should have expected that the B.O.O.T wouldn't be enough to stop the Titans. A very interesting device though wouldn't you agree? Created by a scientist, Dr Ramon if I remember correctly. He originally designed it to be used on rogue super powered villains, I think you'll agree that we have found a better use for it though" Slate rambled
Cyborg was about to bite back a response but he noticed his arm console flash open a message and he quickly read it. "Slate has a machine somewhere in the facility that can drain powers, he managed to drain Jinx's powers and I think he plans to use it on a bigger scale. You guys need to keep him preoccupied whilst I find the machine and take it apart" He held his arm out so that the others could read it and Beast Boy and Raven nodded in response.
"What's the point in all this?" Raven asked, "what do you get from kidnapping meta-humans and taking away their powers?"
Slate gave her a smirk, "Clever girl. I am doing my duty"
"Duty to who?" Raven replied
"To the human race, by protecting it from menaces like you"
Beast Boy scoffed, "We're the ones saving people"
"And how much collateral damage do you create in doing so? Do you know how many injuries and casualties come out of your so called 'heroic battles'?"
"There would be thousands more if we didn't" Cyborg added
"No. Without your kind there could be peace. No more would the civilians of Metropolis live in fear of Superman levelling their houses during one of his routine scraps, or the Flash and his rogues gallery causing mayhem in Central City. I bet you don't even remember the last S.T.A.R Labs that was here in Jump City…one of your little friend Terra's earthquakes caused the building to collapse. Over 50 scientists were inside working on technology to better the city, only to be crushed by a little girl with far too much power. My wife was one of those scientists and from that day I vowed to make sure that Terra and everyone else like her would be held accountable as the terrorists you really are."
"And you believe that using meta-humans as a weapon is somehow okay?" Raven replied with a glare
"Don't you think a police officer using a gun to take down a rogue gunman is the correct course of action? Hence the reason for the kidnappings in the first place. I needed an extremely large power source to be able to completely drain a meta-human's powers. You see during some of my older research I discovered that meta-humans all seem to share a common trait, your energy is stored in almost always the exact same form. Your cells store charge like a battery and then different cells allow access to that charge. I discovered a way of extracting that energy and converting it into electricty, so I started collecting patients to test my theory on but sadly their energy levels were disappointing to say the least. That was until I tested on your alien friend over there, her energy levels were beyond any possible comprehension. The energy from just one of her cells could power Jump City for a week which made her a perfect candidate for my newest invention. A device strong enough to send out a wave that can disrupt the energy collection from the cells rendering almost any meta-human's ability inaccessible. Whilst some may not survive the change it would be a worthwhile cost to give humanity a level playing field."
"As we speak, Kid Flash is already disassembling your machine. It won't be used on anyone else. It's over" Robin said with a growl.
Slate's eye twitched slightly and he snarled at the group, "Once I've dealt with you I'll just make another." He paused and turned to look at Starfire, "I'm sure she still has some spare energy left over"
"I'll kill you!" Robin yelled, his tone was dark and menacing
"Under normal circumstances, I'm sure that would be true. However, I forgot to enlighten you on one of my other discoveries regarding energy. Electricity isn't the only refinement product. He rose up from his chair and they noticed the different tubes that had been connected to him. Holding his hand outstretched the group watched as a starbolt flickered to life and he grinned.
"You think that scares me?" Robin asked with a broken chuckle, I've faced worse. He began to pull out his bo-staff but Raven quickly stepped in his way.
"You're not in a state to fight, Robin. You and Cyborg need to find a way to help Starfire, me and Beast Boy will deal with Slate"
"Raven's right, Rob" Cyborg said placing his hand supportively on Robin's shoulder "Titans, go!"
Raven and Beast Boy quickly made their charge towards Slate, he bolted up in the air above them and began raining down starbolts in their direction. The man's age didn't seem to affect his nimbleness with flight and the two Titans had a hard time keeping up with his movements. Beast Boy morphed into a pterodactyl chasing Slate through the air whilst Raven fired shots of her energy at Slate. Suddenly Slate made a sharp turn and as Beast Boy tried to look around to find him a green starbolt hit him in the chest knocking him the ground.
Cyborg quickly rushed to the main control panel of the machine, he connected his arm into the system and he began rapidly searching for ways to safely disable it. Robin ran quickly over to Starfire, tugging his gloves off his hands he began to stroke her face gently.
"Rob-in?" she croaked out, her voice hoarse and broken.
His heart was in agony as he looked up at how hurt and injured she was. "I'm here gorgeous. We're gonna get you out okay? You just need to stay awake for me" she gave him a small nod in response and he tried to smile for her. "You're so strong Kori, I love you so much". He was trying to be brave for her but inside he was terrified, terrified of losing her, terrified of what he'd let himself do to Slate if that was the case and terrified of how he'd go on without her.
"I-i-lo-lov-", she tried to speak but every syllable sounded like agony to her
"Shh" he said gently, tears had begun welling up in his eyes and he was thankful his mask covered them. He moved over to Cyborg and he gave him a pleading look.
"System has multi-layered protection on the override, I can break through but it's gonna take me least another 5 minutes or so" Cyborg explained.
Raven charged at Slate managing to slam one of the torn off computer monitors into his chest knocking him further back through the air. She continued after him but as he corrected himself in the air he began to hail starbolts at her and she put her protective barrier in front of her to absorb the blasts. The onslaught continued and eventually Raven's shield fell allowing one of the blasts to hit, knocking her to the ground as well. One of the blasts continued its path and singed through one of the cables connected to the draining machine. An alarm rang out and the console for the machinery began flashing brightly. Starfire gave out a loud cry and Robin turned in panic to her.
"No, no no!" Cyborg shouted, "the voltage regulator's been damaged, it's draining power way too fast"
"Robin!" Starfire screamed in pain
"What can we do?" Robin asked frantically, his panicked eyes still on his girlfriend
Cyborg rapidly typed into his arm console desperately trying to gain access to the override. Robin waited desperately for some kind of reassurance, some kind of answer but there wasn't one to be heard. Time seemed to slow down in that moment for him, it was like the world had been swallowed up by the void and all that was left was himself, Starfire and the machine. Her scream rang through his head and in a split second a decision had already been made. He knew the thicker insulated cable had to be what was transferring the energy, and without a second thought he grabbed hold of the cable, closed his eyes and yanked with all his strength. He felt the cable disconnect from the machine but the force of the disconnect caused the cable to slip along his grasp and the starbolt-frayed part of the cable connected with his hand. A surge of energy rushed along his arm and before he or anyone else knew what had happened his body had been launched six feet into the air, skidding along the floor as he landed. His heart had stopped beating before his body reached the ground.
End of chapter 11
